Dimensions of Interstellar Cold Clouds Encountered by the Heliosphere

Constraining cloud sizes and crossing durations for 10Be detectability analysis

Key Results

Median cloud size1.03 pc
68% CI size[0.11, 10.0] pc
Median crossing time29,000 yr
10Be detection prob.89.3%
10Be median SNR8.8
GCR enhancement3.5x
Solar velocity26 km/s

Crossing Time vs Cloud Size

10Be Signal Detectability

Heliosphere Response

Known Nearby Clouds

Model Parameters

Cloud temperature20 K
Cloud density100 cm^-3
GCR flux (outside)4x current
10Be half-life1.39 Myr
Monte Carlo samples5,000